John Frederick Kensett

"Portrait of an Italian Fencer, " John Frederick Kensett, Hudson River School

circa 1845-47

William M. Hart (1823 - 1894) Interior of a Stable Oil on canvas 17 x 12 inches Provenance William Macbeth Gallery, New York Mrs. Mabel Brady Garvan Collection Christie's New York, Sporting Art, November 28, 1995, Lot 116 Ann Carter Stonesifer, Maryland Estate of above Brunk Auctions, Asheville, North Carolina, January 27 2018, Lot 777 Exhibited New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Life in America, April 24 - October 29, 1939, no. 123, illustrated. New York, Macbeth Gallery, 1892: Sixtieth Anniversary Exhibition, April 1952, p. 5, no. 18. Literature Turner Reuter Jr, Animal and Sporting Artists in America, Middleburg, Virginia, 2008, p. 306. Gary Stiles, William Hart: Catalogue Raisonné and Artistic Biography, no. 1126, illustrated. It should be noted that the Francis Patrick Garvan and Mrs. Mabel Brady Garvan collection, of which this painting was a part of, was one of the foremost American Art collections and now makes up a large part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Yale University Art Gallery collections. Born in 1823 in Paisley, Scotland, William Hart emigrated with his parents to the United States at the age of nine and settled in Albany, New York. It was here that Hart first began his artistic training when he was placed under the tutelage of Messrs, Eaton & Gilbert, the prestigious coach-makers from Troy, New York. During this time, Hart learned how to decorate coach panels, covering them with either landscapes or figurative compositions. At the age of seventeen, he was eagerly contemplating an artist’s profession. Consequently, he left the mechanical trade of coach-making and began expanding his artistic pursuits to more refined endeavors. Hart followed coach-making with decorating window shades and later developed an interest in portraiture. Around 1840, he established his first formal studio in his father’s woodshed in Troy. There, he created many likenesses of individuals, affording him a nominal income. Once, he remarked that he felt prouder over his first fee of five dollars for painting a head then for the larger sums he would command later in his career. Nevertheless, his wages from portraits during this early period proved insufficient. Thus, he expanded into landscape painting, allowing him to barter his works or sell them for modest prices. In 1842, Hart moved to Michigan in an attempt to further his success; portraiture remained his primary means of support. Unfortunately, his experiences in the West were disappointing. Hart spent three years living a rough existence until he finally returned to Albany in 1845. Upon his return, he fully devoted himself to the art of landscape painting. Despite his failing health, he worked diligently to perfect his skill until 1849 when he traveled abroad to his native land of Scotland. This trip was made possible through the generosity of his patron and advisor, Dr. Ormsby of Albany. For three years, he studied in the open-air, creating brilliant sketches of the Scottish Highlands and the surrounding British Isles. Returning to Albany once more in 1852, Hart enjoyed improved health and was reinvigorated with purpose. The following year, he moved to New York and opened a studio, promoting himself as a specialist in landscape painting. Hart became a regular contributor to the National Academy of Design. His works received a great deal of attention from artists and connoisseurs alike, all of whom praised him for his fresh, self-taught style. In 1855, he was designated as an associate of the National Academy of Design; three years later he was elected to Academician. In 1865, he was unanimously chosen to be the first president of the Brooklyn Academy of Design. It was during his tenure there that he delivered his famous lecture The Field and Easel, which emphasized the distinguishing principles of landscape art in America. Hart argued that landscape painters should express the “look of the place” being depicted.Critics during the 1870s noted his sensitive balance between capturing a strict “real” interpretation of nature and that of a more “ideal” sentimental tone. For instance, in 1869, Putnam Magazine noted that Hart brought back “exquisite studies” of the surrounding Tappan...

Edward Percy Moran Portrait of a Woman Signed lower right Oil on canvas 30 x 20 inches Provenance: The Madison Gallery, Atlanta Percy Moran was the son of marine painter Edward Mo...

Charles Blauvelt The Doubtful Bill, 1868 Signed and dated lower left Oil on canvas 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches Provenance: Private Collection, Connecticut...

Frederick William Macmonnies Marion Jones Farquhar, 1905-11 Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches Provenance: William Clerk Private Collection, New York Literature: Mary Smart, A Flight with Fame: The Life and Art of Frederick MacMonnies, with a Catalogue Raisonne of Sculpture and a Checklist of Paintings by E. Adina Gordon, Madison, Connecticut, 1996, no. 90. The work depicts Marion Jones Farquhar who, was an American tennis player who competed during the late 19th century and early 20th century. She won the singles titles at the 1899 and 1902 U.S championships and was the first American woman to medal at the Olympics placing Bronze in singles. Additionally, she was the artist's sister-in-law who often played and competed with MacMonnies in golf and tennis. MacMonnies would often study the movements of her form referenced in his sculpture. When MacMonnies won a doubles golf tournament he said "Marion dragged my dead weight thro' and won us the tournament, showing what great Generalship can do." A sculptor of classical figures, American-born Frederick MacMonnies had fame in the United States and Europe in the later half of the 19th century and early 20th century. He occasionally returned to America but lived most of his life as in expatriate in France. He was especially known for his lithe bronze figures, especially ones titled Diana. The classical names of these figures allowed him the appearance of propriety but gave him the opportunity to model svelte nudes. Frederick MacMonnies was one of the first American sculptors to recognize the potential market of the middle class. He copyrighted his works and then contracted with foundries to mass produce some of his figures such as Diana in smaller sizes. MacMonnies was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a child prodigy at carving stone. At age 18, he worked in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and then persuaded him to become his assistant, keeping models damp and covered, running errands, and cleaning the studio. Evenings he studied at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and the National Academy of Design. In Saint-Gaudens' studio, he met many of the wealthy people who shared Saint-Gaudens Beaux-Arts based ideas that art and architecture should be unified in order to create public art in America equal to that of classical antiquity or Renaissance Europe. Among the men that MacMonnies met through Saint-Gaudens who later furthered his career were architects Stanford White and Charles McKim...

Artist: Armand Joseph Lallemand (French, 1810-1871) Title: "Piquier Allemand (German Pikeman)" Portfolio: Gazette des Beaux-Arts Year: 1866 Medium: Original Etching on cream laid pap...

Title: "The Italian Archer: A Study in Renaissance Military Fashion" Description: This print showcases the garb of an Italian military archer, likely from the Renaissance period. Th...

Mid 19th Century oil on canvas portrait of an Italian brigand, unsigned, in painted wood and gilt frame. The painting is a fine and fascinating rendition with plenty of wonderful character and detail to the costume, accessories, landscape and seascape. Very atmospheric and imposing much like the character it portrays. There is a trade stamp to the back of the canvas for the Paris firm of Susse Freres. The canvas is on a fine quality stretcher with 'keys'. There is an artist's name or title written on the top of the rear stretcher (see photo). Bands of brigands who populated the hills of southern Italy were steady fodder for the Romantic imagination, and their exploits were reported both factually, fancifully and artistically The painting dates from a period when France, under its then leader Napoleon III, was involved in the conflicts in the Italian states and the unification and eventual creation of the nation of Italy. An earlier and similar portrait exists of the infamous brigand Mazzocchi by Achille-Etna Michallony . Léon Cogniet...

Ernest Crofts British, (1847-1911) On Guard Oil on panel, signed & dated (18)79 Image size: 9.25 inches x 6.75 inches Size including frame: 19.5 inches x 17 inches A wonderful historical painting of a roundhead soldier standing outside a fortress by Ernest Crofts. The soldier is depicted wearing a back and breast plate over a red and yellow sleeved jacket tied with a sash around his waist. On his head, he wears a felt hat with red and white feathers and holds a sword in his hand. He is shown standing at the moated entrance of a fortified stone building with a portcullis. Beyond the raised portcullis, a group of soldiers can be seen in the shadows. The soldier’s uniform is typical of Cromwell’s famous ‘Ironside’ cavalry and indicates he is an officer, who, in Cromwell’s time would have earned his place based on merit rather than social status. The English Civil...